Half an hour later, Xu's army of nearly 70 large and small warships formed seven columns. Han Tong looked around and saw that the sea was full of sails, ready to fight.
The sun and the southerly wind dispelled the fog. Perhaps because the two sides were getting closer, in front of Han Tong's eyes, the sails of the enemy ships were so huge that it seemed as if the entire sea was filled with sails.
At this moment, what he felt most was no longer worry, but excitement.
The vast waves were endless, and on the magnificent fleet, the black muzzles of the cannons were showing off some kind of power, order, rules, and destructive power. Those unpredictable feelings strongly stimulated the emotions of Han Tong and the soldiers. The man seemed to have an instinctive mania for all this.
Han Tong stood on the wooden building at the stern, his muscles tensed and his head held high, his eyes wide open as he felt the excitement of the moment. He could not suppress his emotions and shouted: It is time to repay the emperor's grace!
For a moment, the shouts of "Long live the ship" on the Mulan ship rose with the wind, and the shouts spread to the entire sea.
Loyalty is also the most important order of this era. The men at this time are not willing to rebel easily. Instead, they will consciously maintain such a hierarchical order, just like filial piety.
Han Tong solemnly pulled out his sword from his waist. The metal rubbed against the scabbard and made a special sound, which was murderous but full of texture. Although the sword was of little use to Han Tong's navy, he held the weapon in his heart.
The messenger Han Tong shouted loudly, enjoying the pleasure of issuing orders and thousands of soldiers obeying his orders. All ships were at full speed and lined up to attack.
Deep in the sea, the sun that had just risen above the land was shrouded in mist. A row of soldiers blew horns, and the majestic sound of the drums slowly and powerfully sounded. The yellow dragon flag on the Mulan ship crackled in the sea breeze against the red sun, and the triangular flags also changed their arrangement.
The heavy Mulan ship broke through the waves, and the sound of the white waves and the shouts of the people echoed each other, like a grand symphony.
Following the direction of the Kuroshio current, the wind is also favorable.
Although the enemy came into sight half an hour ago, it took another long time to get close. This long process gradually wore away Han Tong's excited emotions and he gradually calmed down.
The large number of Japanese ships showed no signs of changing direction or turning around, and their tactics were also very straightforward. They all moved slowly and zigzag against the headwind and headed towards them.
Han Tong said calmly: What kind of general would show courage in such an unfavorable situation
After a long time, the fleets of both sides gradually approached. The warships deployed horizontally by the Japanese army were countless times more than those of Xu's army. Because Xu's army was in seven columns, there were only seven ships horizontally. The Japanese army had formed an overwhelming force advantage on the left and right wings. In fact, the number of their ships was also ten times that of Xu's army.
In the front center, the two Mulan warships lined up side by side were the first to rush into the Japanese warship group with the wind. After a while, countless enemy warships rushed towards the Xu army column from the left and right front.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Many nearby Japanese warships fired arrows. Some enemy soldiers on the nearest ships, wearing turbans or straw hats on their heads, were eager to try, but the Mulan ship was tall, and it might be difficult to launch a feint attack on the board.
The arrows pierced the side deck of a Mulan warship. On the side of the lower cabin, a row of shiny copper cannons were adjusting their directions, and the black muzzles revealed murderous intent.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang, flames and white smoke, and a ten-pound iron ball flew over the bow of an enemy ship and penetrated the sail. The enemy soldiers on it were in an uproar, and some of them were frightened and fell on the deck, looking as if they were blown over by the strong wind from the cannonball.
With a bang, a big hole appeared on the deck of a Japanese warship, wood chips flew everywhere, everyone screamed, and screams and shouts came from below the deck. Some people were stunned, and before they could come to their senses, they found that the hull was tilting. Someone shouted in Japanese: The bottom of the ship is broken, quickly block it!
Boom, boom, boom! More than ten bronze cannons on the starboard side of the Mulan ship opened fire one after another, and the entire sea surface outside seemed to be covered by gunpowder smoke.
As the thunderous sound of the cannon passed, there was the sound of the iron chain rubbing against each other, and the heavy copper cannon slid backwards, hitting the iron rails with its muzzle tilted downwards, and the recoil stopped after a while. The cabin was already filled with the choking smell of gunpowder.
The general shouted: Clear the sparks and reload immediately. The cabin was filled with noise and bustle.
The submachine guns above also exploded with a bang, and the wooden boards above the heads of the sailors were shaking. The sound of the cannons was very sudden and frequent, and the cannons on the port side also fired deafeningly. In the cabin, except for the loud shouts of the generals, the noise of the people was also drowned out.
The Mulan ship led the charge, charging deep into the enemy group. A Japanese warship in front of it had no time to dodge, and the Mulan ship was approaching quickly with the wind and the current. The helmsman and several soldiers stared with wide eyes, looking ahead. The commander on the ship's deck shouted: "Bump!"
The people on the ship screamed in fear. A group of people didn't even care about their bows and arrows. Some people's hands were shaking with longbows. Everyone was shouting and staring at the huge ship in front of them, which was approaching quickly. The bow was covered with iron sheets and had a sharp tip like a plowshare.
The two Japanese soldiers under the mast turned their heads to look while frantically pulling the hemp rope on the sail. But it was too late. After a while, there was a loud bang, a violent vibration and the sound of cracking wood breaking. Some people on the deck lost their balance and fell into the sea.
The Japanese ship was completely out of control. Its weight was not even on the same order of magnitude as the Mulan ship. It was immediately driven by the inertia of its huge hull to drift northward. The hull was gradually pressed into the sea by the Mulan ship. The broken planks and collapsed canvas made the Japanese soldiers scream in panic. A warrior knelt up from the tilted deck, threw away his bow and arrow, and hurriedly pulled out the short knife in his arms to cut the rope on his armor.
Bang bang bang! The submachine guns soon opened fire again. The huge lead bullets hit the Japanese warships on the flanks. Wood chips flew everywhere. The decks and hulls were cracked and damaged by the dense lead bullets. The people hit by the lead bullets screamed and struggled on the deck.
As the Mulan ship passed, the light boat following closely approached the injured enemy ship. Bang bang bang, the light boat was filled with smoke and lead bullets whistled, hitting the Japanese wooden boat in a mess, with many cracks on the boat planks and leaking water. The Japanese soldiers on the boat had lost the ability to fight back, and the survivors were busy scooping water with wooden buckets and repairing the hull.
However, the light boat that arrived later approached them ten steps away and fired a third round of artillery fire. There were screams on the boat, blood was flowing, bows and arrows and tools were scattered everywhere, the hull was flooded and there was no way to save it. Those who survived by chance quickly removed all the metal accessories on their bodies and prepared to jump into the water to escape.
On the sea surface, the heroic scene at this time is unprecedented.
The smoke and fog in the air mixed together, surging in the wind and water, and large sails looked like clouds. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, in the smoke, there were flashes of light everywhere, like lightning flashing in the clouds.
It seemed as if this was not the activities of ordinary people, but a scene created by the power of nature. Countless people were struggling and shouting helplessly amid the roar and flashing.
Broken wood boards, canvas and debris were floating on the sea, and many heads were bobbing and shouting in the water, like refugees after an earthquake and flood.
Han Tong looked at the scene around him, unable to judge whether the Japanese army was vulnerable or brave because their bows and arrows were almost no threat to Xu's army, almost like being fired at in the face. But the Japanese army still rushed forward, arrows coming at them, all at once.
An enemy ship successfully hooked a light boat, but the Japanese soldiers on the deck were in a terrible situation. They were first bombarded by the side guns below the light boat deck and then the ships in the adjacent column fired volleys of muskets and matchlocks to reinforce them. A Japanese soldier just wanted to jump onto the deck of Xu's light boat, but blood splashed on his back, and the samurai sword in his hand flew into the air, and his whole body hit the side of the ship and rolled into the sea.
On the vast sea, the seven columns of Xu's army flashed with fire, and they were unstoppable, following the tide and directly breaking through the middle of the Japanese fleet. Then, with the southeast wind, the entire army turned around and broke through the Japanese army's horizontal formation to the west.
Before noon, the Japanese fleet had completely lost its formation and control. Its generals were afraid that they could no longer command so many ships, and the sea was in chaos. A large number of Japanese warships on the west fled and sailed away from the Kyushu land.
Xu's army chased for half an hour, but seeing that the Japanese army was only concerned with escaping and no ships came to fight, they turned around and returned to the original warships. Han Tong wanted to turn around and attack the eastern fleet again.
But at this time, most of the remaining Japanese ships had fled.
The battlefield and the sea were full of people, many of whom were floating in the water holding on to wooden boards and shouting.
As Xu's army ship passed by, many people swam towards the ship, shouting on the deck. Xu's soldiers could not understand what they were saying, so they had to put up a row of matchlock guns on the deck, splashing water on the sea, and people who fell into the water screaming everywhere. Xu's army fired firearms in turns, and the sound of gunfire continued. The defeated soldiers in the Japanese sea shouted everywhere, making a lot of noise.
In the waves, countless people were floundering in the mess and rain of lead bullets. The sea seemed to be thundering and raining heavily, but in fact, the hazy sunlight in the clouds was shining on the sea; it was also as if the sea was boiled and the water was boiling.
On the Xu army's flagship, the civil and military officials watched the scene in front of them silently. Han Tong said angrily: "The Japanese army commander wanted to do this himself, don't blame me, do you think I will be soft-hearted?"
Lu Duosun said: I think the Japanese army does not want us to be soft, but thinks that the decisive battle can win
Everyone was in a daze and gradually ended this war in the absurdity. It took several months of preparation and it was over in half a day.